Breaking Off the Chains
by Casa Circe
Summary: "My dear, how disappointing," the mother commented coldly, "after all these years, you've still succumbed to the same weakness." But this time, Regina refused to allow history to repeat itself.
1. Chapter 1

Breaking off the Chains

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this story. It's called fan fiction for a reason._

_Note: This is the beginning of that plot bunny that was nagging me but I don't have time tonight to finish the whole thing. So this is a sort of teaser or at least the first part. But I will put up the rest of this before next Sunday, for sure._

_This happens in medias res and I really don't want to get into the details. Hopefully, I threw in just enough to make this comprehensible. If not, may I request that you just go with it. _

_And also, I am rubbish at writing action sequences so I will leave most of this to your imaginations._

_Hope you like this nevertheless. Any feedback is much loved!_

"No."

It was happening again.

This time, the nightmare was real, though she did not want to believe it. For a moment, Regina stood paralyzed with horror at what was taking place before her. She stood, rooted to the spot, trying to convince herself that this wasn't real, that this couldn't be real.

Not now. Not again.

All she could do was stare, a cold fear gripping her that she had not felt since she thought Henry had died, a pain she had not felt since she had had to give Daniel up for the second time. She had never imagined she would suffer this way again, and so soon.

"What's the matter, darling?" Cora asked with a sinister smirk, "where is my powerful, little queen now?"

All of it had happened so quickly that there was barely time to react properly to everything. Cora had managed to find a portal from the Enchanted Forest into Storybrooke, following behind Emma and Mary Margaret without their knowing. She had arrived in town and immediately began wreaking havoc all over the place.

Her powers were as strong as ever and she brought with her a great malice, which threw the whole town into darkness and chaos. And she had not come alone, for she had brought along an army of horrible creatures to assist in her fight. Wraiths and ogres and other monsters followed in her wake and the whole town was occupied with fighting off these fearsome enemies.

Charming, Snow, and Emma led the fight against the beasts, aided, to their surprise, by Rumplestiltskin and Regina. The rest of the town rallied behind them and defended themselves bravely.

But at length, Cora's true purpose was revealed, and to Regina's horror, her mother had gotten hold of Henry. The boy struggled in Cora's grasp but he could not get away. He threw a look at Regina, begging for help, and wordlessly allowing her to use magic again.

And so the queen had summoned all her powers to duel her own mother in order to free her son. The battle had been fierce but Regina had never been more determined in her life to rescue anyone from her mother's clutches. And by the strength of her will and her love for Henry, she managed to tear him away from Cora and hand him to Emma for safety. The blonde woman understood the gravity of the situation and despite the boy's protests, took him to where she could protect him better.

Regina then faced her mother for the decisive battle. Magical blows were exchanged, sparks and flames of all colors filled the air as the two powerful sorceresses unleashed their magic and showcased their remarkable abilities.

But in a moment of miscalculation, Regina stumbled, giving Cora the perfect opportunity to deal a fatal blow. Before the younger woman could deflect it, however, someone managed to push her out of the way.

"Archie?" she cried incredulously.

He smiled back at her in relief. They had both miraculously avoided Cora's strike, but just barely.

"I wasn't about to let you go through that alone," he said simply.

Before either of them could say anything else, Archie was lifted in the air by a great force and tendrils of bluish light began to coil tightly around him.

"Well, well, well," Cora remarked with interest, "and what do we have here?"

"Let him go!" Regina screamed in rage, getting back on her feet and taking a defensive stance, "your issue is with me. He's not involved."

"Unfortunately, he is now," Cora replied, "he should have thought better than to jump in."

Regina looked worriedly at Archie as he struggled in the magical chains that held him. Then, she glared at her mother and threw a fireball at her. Cora deflected this easily and stood in front of the helpless figure in her clutches.

"Now, now," the older sorceress remarked, "I have something in particular planned for you."

And then, Cora raised her hand towards Archie's chest and took a position all too familiar to Regina. The queen's eyes widened in complete horror.

"No."

Cora glanced at her daughter and shook her head.

"But, my dear, how disappointing," the mother commented coldly, "after all these years, you've still succumbed to the same weakness."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this story. It's called fan fiction for a reason._

_Note: I'm sorry for the atrocious delay. I meant to have this up before "Into the Deep" but I had a really bad case of writer's block and then got distracted by the episode. So now, I'm posting this before watching "Queen of Hearts." Again, I apologize for this. And I'm sorry that the quality of the writing is a bit crappy as well. I'm in the middle of finals week etc. and anyway, enough with my excuses. I also added a random appearance by Rumple because he is so much fun._

_This is the end of this short story as I have no ideas on how to continue it and I'd really like to wait until the series progresses before I write any more fan fics. I shall continue to ship this ship and if I ever get inspired to make some one-shots, I may. But at least for now, this is my last OUAT fan fic. Hope you like it, in spite of its flaws!_

"I had such high hopes for you," Cora said derisively, still keeping Archie suspended in the air with tendrils of light as Regina watched, paralyzed with fear, "and even though I was angry at you for throwing me through that portal, when I found my way back, I found out what you had become and I must say, you exceeded even my expectations. I was so proud of you."

At this, Regina narrowed her eyes angrily while Cora gave her a sinister smile.

"For all your protests," the older woman continued, "you followed in my footsteps after all."

"I never wanted to be like you," Regina answered coldly, "and if there was ever a moment that I was, I am never going down that path again!"

Cora frowned but did not look too perturbed.

This outburst seemed to make Regina snap out of her trance. She would not let her fear keep her from fighting for what she cared about. Not this time.

"Let him go," she repeated, this time with more conviction, she raised her hands in a defensive stance.

Cora raised an eyebrow and kept Archie dangling in her magical grasp.

"I admire your audacity, my dearest daughter," Cora remarked, "but I fear it is wasted on this one."

Cora took control of the magical chains that held Archie and brought him to a level where she could get a better look at him. She frowned and shook her head in dismay. Archie attempted to say something but Cora immediately gagged him with another magic tendril. Regina watched all this attentively, planning her next move with great care. She could not afford to make a mistake; one false move and she could lose everything.

But Cora did not seem the least bit threatened and considered to take an interest in her latest prey.

"I must say, I expected your tastes to improve after all these years," the older sorceress commented harshly, "after all, you were a queen. And I worked so very hard to get you exposed to the right people in society. But you disappointed me again. First, you fell in love with a mere stable boy. And now, you've sunk even lower, when I did not think such a thing was even possible. Really, Regina, a cricket?"

"He's no cricket now," Regina answered, "and he is one of the best men I have ever known. When everyone was against me, he was the only one who showed me kindness and compassion. He was the first person to give me a second chance, to believe that I could truly change for the better. He believed in me, something neither you nor any other person in my family ever did."

Cora frowned at this.

"Now, why would you think that, my dear?" she asked, "as I've told you repeatedly, I only ever had your best interests at heart."

"If you truly meant that, you would have allowed me to be happy," Regina retorted, "but the way your treated me pushed me into the dark path that I've come to utterly regret. I've done so many terrible things and caused so much pain because I could never be happy. And now that I'm finally beginning to redeem myself, you've returned to destroy all that I want to protect. I won't let you win this time. I won't let you take my happiness away again."

"You could never defeat me before," Cora taunted, "and now, even the great Dark One has fallen prey to the same weakness that prevented you from achieving greatness. How can you expect to beat me now?"

And with this declaration, Cora made a grand display of her power, with thunder and lightning and dark clouds filling the sky and a purple mist surrounding her. She was determined to show them all that she was invincible.

In Cora's moment of distraction and self-absorption, Regina found a perfect window of opportunity. With a skillful maneuver, she shot a dash of light at the dark, magical chains that held Archie and instantly released him. With another movement, she sent a soft cloud to cushion his fall and to bring him towards her.

"Thank you, Regina!" Archie cried in gratitude as he ran towards her.

"Get behind me, quickly!" she told him although she looked glad to see him alive and well, "this isn't over yet."

"Don't worry, I won't be a burden to you again, I promise," he reassured her.

"You were never a burden to me, Archie," Regina managed to reply, "please don't think that."

Before they could continue their conversation, they came face to face with an incredulous and infuriated Cora.

"How did you manage to cut through those defenses?" Cora asked, her face livid, "you never had such power, even at your peak!"

Regina stood her ground and faced her mother courageously.

"You've underestimated me, Mother," she said, "I've broken off the chains you've shackled me with, all your expectations and mistaken beliefs. I'm finally free now."

"What are you talking about?" Cora asked angrily.

With this, Regina unleashed great beams of bright, white light from her hands, quite unlike the dark fumes she used to make when she was evil. There was something pure and good about her power now, and it was a feature that was not lost on Archie.

"Regina, your powers look different," he said in awe.

"Well," Regina replied with a smile, "I'm motivated by something else now."

"I don't understand, how did you become this powerful?" Cora protested.

"Oh, it's simple, dearie," said a familiar voice, "Regina's finally understood a truth that you never could and that even I didn't recognize until very recently."

"And what's that?" Cora snapped, as she felt herself being engulfed in white smoke and bright light, her body beginning to vanish.

"True love," Regina answered confidently, "is the most powerful magic of all."


End file.
